cblaisd

Flew one evening this week STL-SEA.

I was upgraded to Premium class (which, of course, means I can no longer see where I am on the upgrade to F list on the app).

Checked in at the counter (checked a bag; United had taught me not to do this unless I enjoyed waiting forever at baggage claim; but I've never had a bag come late with AS). Asked where I was on the Complimentary Upgrade to First list. Agent said I was number one and their were three open seats.

At the gate, F was suddenly full.

There were no upgrade requests showing on the app, but those three seats were taken by someone.

I guess it's not impossible -- although it seems unlikely -- that three paid F pax bought tickets in those two hours.

Any supposition as to what most likely happened?

Why doesn't the app accurately reflect information in real-time?

And just to note: I do not expect an upgrade, certainly as an MVP. If I want it guaranteed, I'll buy it. But am simply mildly curious what the experts think might have happened so that three un-bought/un-upgraded F seats vanished in two hours.

Mauibaby2008

In December I flew out of LAX 3 times in one week on Alaska as MVP

depending on the airport, they like to sell the $99 upgrade or whatever to whomever is willing to pay it (i was told the $99 upgrades get upgraded ahead of MVP upgrades but MVP Gold & 75K get upgraded before the $99 upgrades) ... but who knows. As MVP I got (complimentarily) upgraded each time flying out of BWI

jsguyrus

I think we see in numerous posts something is wrong with upgrades. We all knew how it used to work then a few month ago everything changed and there is no consistency to how and when upgrades are given. It seems to vary by flight and airport. My guess is AS actually has a set procedure but there is so much confusion that everyone is doing it differently.

Spiffieman

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+1

Tracer_SEA

They are offering paid buy-ups to F at check-in (online and kiosk) and at the gate... I don't think it's unlikely that they could have sold 3 F seats via these channels (as opposed to full F tickets, which I agree seems very unlikely)

jsguyrus

I think the point is they are not supposed to do that when there is a wait list.

cblaisd

But not via the app? The stations I most typically use don't have kiosks

Tracer_SEA

My understanding is that they don't offer the buy-ups to elites.

I thought that they still sold to non-elites even when there are elites on the waitlist, but I would be happy to be proven wrong.

PV_Premier

missy has said they're not supposed to

just because they're not supposed to doesn't mean it isn't happening though. seems like all the things that aren't supposed to be happening are.

Im actually likely to use my companion fare on a typically very cheap CA-MT round trip because I can't find U to Hawaii and I don't trust the upgrade process to get me there in F on a $800+ round trip fare.

Waitlisted

Yesterday I was #4 on an F upgrade list with 2 available seats on a 739, so no P. I was on the plane in my seat and the flight attendant came back and gave me 1F. Oh, and I was on a 12,500 mile mileage ticket booked 3 days ago too. Happy to get the upgrade and I am sure as a Gold I leapfrogged s few MVPs, but still unsure how I got the seat.

jinglish

It's quite possible #2 and #3 were just on the same reservation.

Tracer_SEA

After some further thought I think there is another long known AS upgrade glitch that is a more likely explanation.

The release of U inventory is not directly tied to processing of upgrades. So in this case, perhaps U was released and before the upgrade processor (or agent) assigned that U in list order, other pax were able to grab it by checking in/rechecking in

Thoughts?

JPat

The UG list changes as people check in. If you haven't checked in your name will not appear on the UG list in the App. Once you check in your name appears on it. It's possible that as people checked in after you that they were awarded FC UGs at check in as they had higher status than you or had purchased a higher class fare.